• Elon Musk said that "AI and robots" are the key to fixing America's national debt.
• On a podcast, Musk said it would be "impossible" to tackle any other way.
• He predicted "digital superintelligence" could boost the output of goods and services by 20% to 30%.

Elon Musk said artificial intelligence and robots — not government spending cuts — are the only way to fix the US national debt problem.

Speaking on a newly released episode of author Walter Isaacson's "The Builders" podcast, Musk said his 130-day stint as a special government employee in the second Trump administration led him to that view.

Musk, the world's richest person, served as the de facto leader of the White House DOGE office from January to May 2025, where he sought to slash federal spending.

"I came to the conclusion that the only way we're going to solve the national debt is with AI and robots. We're not going to solve it by trying to save our way there," Musk told Isaacson, calling the latter "impossible."

The US national debt load hit a record $40 trillion in August and has continued to climb, according to Treasury data.

"Maybe if the president made that his, you know, primary goal, we could do that, but the problem is if you try to solve the deficit and stop wasteful spending, you make a lot of enemies in that situation," Musk said.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said political leaders in Washington are mostly unwilling to rein in federal spending enough to significantly shrink the deficit.

"The appetite is not there, and it's not just at the presidency. The appetite is not there at the presidency, the House, the Senate, or the judiciary," Musk said.

He added, "Basically, no one in authority in the government whatsoever, really, with maybe a few rare exceptions of like the Rand Pauls of the world type of thing, actually wants to reduce spending — no, they don't."

Musk estimated that "digital superintelligence" could boost the global output of goods and services by 20% to 30% — an increase he estimated could add roughly $30 trillion a year to the world economy.

"If you have robots and you get to space and can do a mass driver on the moon, then you can get to, I think, potentially a million times the size of the Earth economy," he said.

This could ultimately make money "irrelevant," Musk said.

"There will still be currency, but I think currency will be measured in fundamental physics metrics like wattage and tonnage, mass and energy," he said, predicting, "Conventional currency will not matter."

During the interview, Musk also reflected on his chainsaw-wielding time with the Department of Government Efficiency, admitting he got "carried away."

"I think I should have been more in the background and probably only had it last for a month or two, because at that point you've sort of seen most of what there is to see," Musk told Isaacson.

Musk said he should have left and "focused on AI a little sooner than I did."

• Elon Musk says "money becomes irrelevant" if he's right about what the future holds.
• The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said AI and robots will be better than humans at everything.
• The world's richest man said his fortune could be virtually gone within a few generations.

Elon Musk says money could be meaningless one day, and the vast majority of his wealth will likely be gone within a few generations.

The world's richest person predicted that advances in robotics and space travel will create a multiplanetary economy, at which point "money becomes irrelevant" and "conventional currency will not matter."

Value will be measured in mass and power or energy, he continued. "So that's my guess," he said, adding that it seemed a "pretty obvious" outcome to him.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO shared his vision of a post-money future and his outlook on his personal fortune with his biographer, Walter Isaacson, on "The Builders" podcast. The interview was taped in early August and released on Tuesday.

Musk recommended earlier this year that people stop saving for retirement in 10 or 20 years, as he expects AI and other technologies to supercharge productivity and usher in an age of abundance where people can have "whatever stuff they want."

He made a similar argument to Isaacson, saying "there won't be anything that humans can do that the AI and the robots can't do better." People will likely turn to hobbies like growing their own fruits and vegetables, or making art, to find purpose in life, he said.

Musk's plans for his own money

Musk, who briefly became a trillionaire after SpaceX went public in June, topped the Bloomberg Billionaire Index at Monday's close with an estimated $920 billion net worth.

He defended his personal wealth on the podcast, saying that it mostly reflects his ownership of SpaceX and Tesla, and he needs large stakes in both companies to retain voting power and remain in charge.

His fortune is "going to be taxed quite heavily," Musk said, adding that there isn't "some magical way to avoid taxes" because "if there were, I would know about it."

Musk said his wealth will "get whittled down and a few generations from now — if money still matters, which I don't think it will — my descendants would have a tiny fraction of what I have."

He also outlined what he hopes his foundation will spend his fortune on after he's gone: "Continue the goals. Make life multi-planetary, extend consciousness to the stars, improve sustainable energy on Earth."

Notably, Musk pledged on Monday to gift a share of SpaceX to every child in the US next year, a contribution worth over $10 billion today.

His announcement has won praise from President Donald Trump, who hailed Musk's "incredible generosity" and labeled him a "legendary friend" in an X post.

Musk teased a charitable pledge in late July after Nobel economist Daron Acemoglu publicly challenged him over his prediction of a post-money future.

"If money won't matter in 2036, why don't you pledge to donate your current wealth of approximately $1 trillion to charity no later than 2036," Acemoglu wrote on X.

"I am actually going to do something along these lines!" Musk responded.

• Trump praised Elon Musk's plan to give one SpaceX share to every child in America next year.
• The pledge could be worth about $10.6 billion at SpaceX's current price.
• Musk and Trump have a rocky relationship, but appear to be back on the same page in recent months.

Elon Musk’s pledge to give every child in America a share in SpaceX has already paid one dividend: effusive praise from President Donald Trump.

"A BIG THANK YOU to our legendary friend, Elon Musk," Trump wrote Monday, calling the proposed gift an act of "incredible generosity."

He said the shares would go to children through Trump Accounts, the investment accounts created under his administration.

It was an enthusiastic response to Musk's commitment earlier in the day. "Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America," he wrote on X. "This will be the first of many."

Significantly, Trump shared his praise in a post on X, a platform he has eschewed in recent years since launching his social network, Truth Social.

Trump was barred from Twitter in 2021 after the Capitol riot, and while his account was reinstated after Musk bought and renamed the platform, the president has been an infrequent poster since then.

Musk's $10 billion donation promise

There are roughly 72 million children in the US, and SpaceX stock closed Monday at about $148 a share. At that price, one share apiece would put the gift's value at around $10.6 billion. Its eventual value will depend on SpaceX’s share price at the time the stock is transferred.

Trump has been waiting for this particular contribution. In July, he said he thought Musk would donate SpaceX stock to Trump Accounts, even as he referred to their very public falling-out as a "little dispute."

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and her husband had already pledged shares for more than 2 million children’s accounts.

Musk and Trump have a turbulent relationship. The world's richest man was one of Trump's biggest financial backers in the 2024 election, spending more than $200 million to help elect him. The pair were close enough during the first few months of Trump's return to the White House for Musk to earn the nickname "First Buddy."

He then became the public face of the administration's Department of Government Efficiency before leaving in May 2025.

After leaving DOGE, Musk was highly critical of the president's "Big, Beautiful Bill," calling it a "disgusting abomination."

Musk has recently resumed spending heavily to shape Republican politics ahead of the midterms. Since July, he has given about $276 million, including $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund; the super PAC later sent matching sums to a Texas group supporting Attorney General Ken Paxton's Senate campaign.

Lately, Musk has been seen publicly with Trump several times; the president awarded him the National Medal of Science earlier this month, and when China's leader Xi Jinping visited the US in September, he sat at the president's table at a state dinner.

Details are still unclear on Musk's SpaceX share giveaway

If confirmed, Musk would join other wealthy backers of the program. Michael and Susan Dell contributed $6.25 billion to the accounts of 25 million children, with the gifts directed first to children in lower-income ZIP codes. Musk’s donation would be larger than the Dells' barring a significant drop in SpaceX's share price.

For now, it remains a promise. Musk has not detailed who would qualify as a child under his plan, how he would get shares into every eligible account, or when the transfers would happen next year.

For Trump, the promise brings one of the country’s wealthiest business leaders behind a program he has promoted. "This is exactly what was envisioned when we created TRUMP ACCOUNTS," he wrote Monday.

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The SpaceX business helping to fund Elon Musk's biggest bets is taking a swing of its own just in time for earnings.

SpaceX reports earnings after the bell today, and Musk's goal of turning Starlink into a major mobile carrier is expected to be a focus.

Taking on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile is a huge endeavor. And it requires significant investment from a company that already has a long list of expensive bets.

As a bit of a refresher, SpaceX is made up of three key parts: connectivity (Starlink), space (reusable rockets like Starship), and AI (Grok, X, and data centers). Among the three, connectivity is the only one generating an operating profit.

That makes it incredibly valuable not only as a stand-alone business but as a way to offset the expensive investments made by SpaceX's space and AI segments.

Turning Starlink into a mobile carrier complicates that arrangement. To offer service in more densely populated areas, SpaceX will need to launch more satellites into space and establish a ground footprint.

How much SpaceX plans to set aside for that buildout and the impact it'll have on the bottom line are key questions analysts will have.

Musk is no stranger to talking a big game. He recently said SpaceX could one day be worth more than Earth's economy.

He's backed it up by accomplishing things others thought were impossible, like self-landing rockets. Just don't expect him to hit his self-imposed deadlines. (Case in point: Tesla Roadster, which has faced numerous delays and is now targeting production in 2028.)

There's less at stake when you're starting from scratch. But with Starlink, it's also about Musk avoiding turning his cash cow into another capital drain.

According to another Musk proclamation, a lot of us will have a vested interest in SpaceX's success.

Early Monday morning, Musk said he'll give one of his SpaceX shares to every kid in America next year.

"This will be the first of many," he added.

Details on how that would work weren't clear, but many people immediately thought of the recently launched Trump Accounts.

President Donald Trump predicted Musk would donate SpaceX stock to the accounts. And SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell already said she'd gift a share of her company stock to Trump Accounts.

If that's how the shares are distributed, it's an example of the complexities the Trump Accounts can pose for some parents. Certain jobs, like those in financial services, have restrictions around the types of investments you can hold due to compliance reasons.